Skills:
Continuing with what I have started, here goes the compilation for the feedback on skills.
> As expected, there has been much talk on the new skill system of not using skill points anymore. The new skill system is similar to that of the Star Wars Saga Edition (SWSE); in which your bonus on a given skill automatically raises as you level up. With all the talk on compatibility, this seems to diverge a little bit, as member Zurai mentioned in his post:
“…with the vast number of feats and Prestige Classes that have skill rank requirements, how do they interact with the new rank-less system for skills?...” Indeed it raises an interesting point, how are skill rank requirement going to be handled if this new system is to be kept?
The majority of people seem to prefer the standard point system, a thread for this specific topic can be seen here.
A small minority of people liked the new system, but I’d like to mention that the issue here is that people who want to max out a small number of skills could easily accomplish this with the point system, and those that want to distribute their points any other way are free to do so; while with the new SWSE-like system, one has only the option of maxing out theirs skills.
On a personal note, I am glad many preferred the old system for I also did, and I became a bit worried when I saw these new rules. I really hope Paizo goes back to skill points.
> The other big talk on skills is the grouping of some skills. This is a nice idea that has been done in the new 4th ed too. Mainly, people are discussing some groupings they like or dislike and giving ideas for new ones. A thread on the issue can be seen here.
I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere so I take the opportunity to mention another system; The Iron Heroes RPG. Here’s how it goes:
There are group of skills like Athletics (which includes Climb, Jump and Swim), Robbery (Disable Device, Forgery, Open Lock and Sleight of Hand), Stealth (Hide and Move Silently), etc…
Each class has one or more of these groups as “class skill groups”. You are free to buy any skill from anywhere you want, but within your group of skills, each point you spend you gain ranks in all of the skills in that group. For example, a Thief gains access to the Robbery group (among others), so each point spend in this group raises his Disable Device, Forgery, Open Lock and Sleight of Hand by one. Other classes that don’t have access to this group could buy each skill independently.
This was only to mention another option that has also been done; with the skills being already grouped this might not work too well; anyway, the system is nice for there is no cross-class skill.
> Another issue that has been getting some attention is that some classes get too few skill points (The fighter and sorcerer for example); it has been mentioned a couple times to give a minimum of 4 points to these classes.
I personally agree with this, I’ve always thought only 2 skill points are not enough to customize your character nicely. Take the Sorcerer for example, he has to max out (or at least near it) his Concentration and Spellcraft already, if he is not human or doesn’t have Int 12+, that’s about all he’ll take for the whole game; maybe getting one point or another in something else at high levels when these skills are already high enough.
Member Asgetrion raised an interesting point as to why fighters don’t get Perception as class skill:
“Besides, I always wondered why most Fighters sucked at Spot and Listen, although you’d think that guys who spent half the night on guard duty (when the spellcasters are sleeping) should excel at it.”
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The majority of people seem to prefer the standard point system, a thread for this specific topic can be seen here.
A small minority of people liked the new system
Hey, dont call us small. :)
In the thread your indicating there are many of us. By my count there are 33 for the new system (with tweaks). In all fairness there are 44 in that thread for keeping skill points the same by my count. There are also 12 that are undecided, going to try it out first, or just don't care either way.
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Please refrain from trying to summarize everyones discussions. If people want to know they will read it. Anyone can easily misinterupt and misquote what people are really saying (you know the game of telephone). Then people who read your post might actually believe that and it might not actually be the way it is.
“…with the vast number of feats and Prestige Classes that have skill rank requirements, how do they interact with the new rank-less system for skills?...” Indeed it raises an interesting point, how are skill rank requirement going to be handled if this new system is to be kept?
To some it is very clear how to do it even though Alpha does have an "official" explanation in it. Read the threads about it.
but I’d like to mention that the issue here is that people who want to max out a small number of skills could easily accomplish this with the point system, and those that want to distribute their points any other way are free to do so; while with the new SWSE-like system, one has only the option of maxing out theirs skills.
It is not the maxing out of skills that is so wonderful it is the lack of recordkeeping that skill ranks have. Also, "currently" maxing is the only option. We are discussing alternatives for this.
It is not the maxing out of skills that is so wonderful it is the lack of recordkeeping that skill ranks have. Also, "currently" maxing is the only option. We are discussing alternatives for this.
With sill points you can easily max out your skills without any recorkeeping; get the bonus for the 4 points assigned at 1st level and each level raises it by one. Simple.
As to the number of people that preferred the old system, there other topics too, I only mentioned that one because it was one of the largest threads.
When I started doing this summarization, the paizo messageboards were in a bit of a mess; there was no specific categories for Classes, Feats, Skills, etc; only 300+ threads scattered around, you should remember it. So that was a way to people at least know what was going on, just what others most talked about; now, with the specific categories and apparently removing of some dead threads, there is really no much need anymore.